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If a company paid you to watch their commercials on television, you would probably be more inclined to not get up for a snack, or reach for the mute button. However, this is not happening and your favorite programs are interrupted. Your family time may be interrupted by pleas for donations from charitable organizations or political organizations; and your computer screen is bombarded thousands of times each day you turn it on, and when you sign onto the internet.

In an effort to reduce the number of interruptions every person has everyday through every media available, the push is on for companies to get permission before taking your time. It would be like a television commercial giving you a choice of whether to watch the commercial or continuing with the program. No advertiser in their right mind would offer that choice because they know their message is broadcast to thousands of viewers and if they had to get permission from them all, their commercial would never see the light of day.

With the internet, the number of advertising emails sent out on a daily basis is staggering and most of them are a waste of money as people simply hit the delete key. They may be interested in the message, but not in the interruption. A new trend for internet marketing is sending advertising only to those who give their permission. Whether the next generation of marketing involving permission marketing is successful will depend on the internet surfers' hatred of unsolicited marketing materials.

However, no one is going to tell a company it is OK to send them advertising, unless there is something in it for them. Back to the television commercial; if the company said watch this commercial and we will send you a free sample of the advertised product, they would probably get more people to watch. However, that is not going to happen. With permission marketing, recipients may agree to receive information through email or links to websites because they have been entered into a contest, promising them the chance to win a prize.

A solid permission marketing plan may entail monthly, annual or semiannual contests that invite people to sign up. The company offers to enter them in a drawing, or offers online game competition in return for their permission to send them emails about the sponsor of the contest or game.

Potential customers are more willing to receive the information once they are entered in the contest. It may also require them to participate in the game for a certain time period to maintain their eligibility for winning, but in many cases as long as their permission was given during the time of the contest, they are considered eligible contestants.